Quote:
Originally Posted by Mountaincoach
The bottom line is the woman sued a CHILD. Any kind of explanation or justification is just plain wrong. Here's a quote from her lawyer. I'd be ashamed.
"He throws his best fast ball over the bullpen into the picnic area, striking my client in the face," Elizabeth Lloyd's attorney told the Press about the little league lawsuit, which she filed after attempts to settle with insurance companies failed.
This video is like a picture--worth a thousand words. Pay particular attention to the words they use in the lawsuit to describe how the CHILD "intentionally and recklessly assaulted her".
NJ woman hit with ball sues Little League player |
I've been resisting the urge to weigh in here - there is really too much we don't know ... can't know, really ... about what actually happened.
IF [and it's a damn big "if"] the kid INTENTIONALLY "threw his best fastball" at her and cause damage, the suit against the kid probably has merit.
ON THE OTHER HAND, I went ahead and watched the video link in the post quoted above, which purports to show the "scene of the crime" - the
locus in quo, as us lawyers say [when we're being pretentious].
If this is the bullpen, fence, and picnic table involved, in the same condition and location as at the time of the occurance, then the lawsuit is bulls#!t, and probably doomed to failure in any half-way sensible Court. The fence is about 6 feet high, the table is less than 15 feet from the fence - no way is she getting hit by anybody's best fastball, intentional or not: the ball is being thrown from the other end of the bullpen, and is gonna resemble an ephus slow-pitch softball trajectory to hit her, not a MLB frozen rope. Simple negligence [a terrible return throw] won't cut it to impose liability on the kid, and at that range, I'll call BS preemptively on his being able to intentionally throw the ball over that fence and have it hit the table with enough force to do serious damage, at that range.
Not gonna make liability against the kid on "inappropriate sporting activity" in proximity to the table - he's IN the F'ing bullpen, doing what it's designed for, and HE's not responsible for where the Park puts the benches/ tables. The "heads up"-type sign pretty much exempts the Park, League, and the rest of the universe from liability: there is real good precedent [iirc, from NY, not NJ - but the principle is still taught as universal] that getting hit by random errant baseballs is a known risk of attending a BB game, such that every spectator is said to "assume the risk" - precluding any recovery for NEGLIGENT [but not INTENTIONAL] beaning of a spectator.
My read: Plaintiff's lawyer is a moron, hoping that whoever ends up representing the Defendant(s) is a bigger moron. Hell- it happens.